Genetic and geographical structure of boreal plants in their southern range: phylogeography of Hippuris vulgaris in China

BMC Evolutionary Biology

Research Article

Jinning Zhu¹  Dan Yu¹  Xinwei Xu¹  Qixiang Lu¹ 

[1] National Field Station of Freshwater Ecosystem of Liangzi Lake, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, P. R. China;

关键词: Boreal plants;    China;    Chloroplast DNA;    Ecological niche modeling;    Hippuris vulgaris;    Microsatellites;    Phylogeography;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12862-016-0603-6

 received in 2015-10-07, accepted in 2016-01-28,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundOur current understanding of the evolutionary history of boreal and arctic-alpine plants in their southern range in Asia remains relatively poor. Using three cpDNA non-coding regions and nine nuclear microsatellite (nSSR) loci, we examine the phylogeographic pattern in a broad geographic sampling of the boreal plant Hippuris vulgaris to infer its dispersal and diversification in China. In addition, the species distributions at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and at present were predicted using ecological niche modeling (ENM).ResultsThe cpDNA results revealed two distinct lineages, A and B. A is restricted to Northeast China; B is distributed in Northwest China, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and North and Northeast (NNE) China; and A and B diverged ca. 1.36 Ma. The nSSR data revealed two genetic clusters corresponding to the two cpDNA lineages and nonreciprocal hybridization with lineage A as the maternal lineage in Northeast China. Cluster B further divided into three subclusters: I, mainly in NNE China and the northeastern border of the QTP; II, in Northwest China and the QTP; and III, on the QTP. ENM predicted a marked range shift on the QTP at the LGM, retreating from the platform to the northeast and southeast edges.ConclusionsHippuris vulgaris probably diverged into lineages A and B in high latitudes and then immigrated into Northeast China and Northwest China, respectively. Lineage A persisted and diversified in Northeast China. Lineage B reached the QTP during the mid-Pleistocene, diversified in that region due to the influence of climatic oscillations, migrated into Northeast China and subsequently hybridized with lineage A. Our findings give empirical evidence that boreal plants display complex evolutionary history in their southern range in Asia and provide new insights into the evolution of boreal and arctic-alpine plants.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Lu et al. 2016